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Malaria and World Water Day

Greetings on World Water Day, which interestingly is taking place just about one month before World Malaria Day. The theme for the upcoming World Malaria Day focuses on malaria’s lack of respect for borders, and the challenge of guaranteeing and preserving safe water supplies also cuts across national boundaries.

The connection between water and the breeding of malaria carrying mosquitoes is well known. In a most simple example, one can visualize many of the newly installed borehole wells around Africa that were installed without adequate community involvement. in very little time, these become poorly maintained and spill off water collects into puddles ideal for anopheles mosquitoes.

One can also recall numerous agricultural projects that create mosquito breeding grounds through irrigation canals or simply land clearing that allows rain water to collects. When floods come, which has been very common in southeast Africa recently, communities lose access to safe water while ironically being surrounded by expanses of rivers that overflowed their banks, creating breeding opportunities for mosquitoes.

The ultimate lesson is that both programs, safe water and malaria control, cannot be solved in a vertical way. There needs to be collaboration and a broader development approach that addresses underlying

https://t.co/yKKsmAEpSv @MinSanteRDC #Ebola 23 May 2019: Since beginning of epidemic, cumulative number of cases is 1,888, of which 1,800 confirmed 88 are probable. In total, there were 1,254 deaths (1,166 confirmed and 88 probable) and 492 people cured. 11 new confirmed cases